


Galatea

by orphan_account



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Art AU, Fluff, M/M, MiraGen does Art, Mythology - Freeform, Painter!AU, Pygmalion & Galatea, a lot of pining, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-04-10
Updated: 2013-04-10
Packaged: 2017-12-08 02:32:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/755963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A long time ago, a man named Pygmalion married a statue that turned human. The name of the woman was Galatea.<br/>--<br/>Or, in which there is a lot of pining, Kise paints, and Kuroko is the mysterious Galatea to Kise's Pygmalion.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Galatea

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hinekosama](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=hinekosama).
  * A translation of [갈라테이아](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/19960) by 마담에뜨왈. 



> A translation of Madame's KiKuro fic. Mythology + KuroBasu is love.  
> My translations are far from perfect, please forgive me *grovels*
> 
> I loved this fic so much that I had to.

_Pygmalion off'ring, first approach'd the shrine,_  
 _And then with pray'rs implor'd the Pow'rs divine:_  
 _Almighty Gods, if all we mortals want,_  
 _If all we can require, be yours to grant;_  
 _Make this fair statue mine, he wou'd have said,_  
 _But chang'd his words for shame; and only pray'd,_  
 _Give me the likeness of my iv'ry maid._

_-Ovid, Metamorphoses Book X_

 

Long time ago, Pygmalion, King of Cypress did not believe in women. Disgusted by the women of Cypress who gave love so easily and lightly, he sculpted a woman with such skill that she seemed alive. Pygmalion fell in love with the beautiful statue and prayed at the altars of Aphrodite to make the statue come alive. Moved by the earnest prayers of Pygmalion, the goddess Aphrodite granted Pygmalion's wish. With the blessing of the goddess, Pygmalion married the statue that turned human.

The name of the woman was Galatea.

* * *

  _Art by[Yenko](http://yenko.dothome.co.kr/)_

Anyone who is into art would know the story of Pygmalion and Galatea. It's the subject of many famous artworks, and even psychological terms have derived from the story.

But that's not why the man sitting alone at the art room was repeating the word over and over in his mind.

 _Galatea._ He murmured to himself. It's really a bunch of shit. But if the deity of love could really perform miracles like that, then it wouldn't be work at all to meet 'him' again.

Because his 'Galatea' is alive.

Long, thick eyelashes covered his half-closed eyes. Unblemished, white skin led to a straight nose, and his eyes were the color of warm honey, reflecting the moonlight. Above his eyebrows was a mass of neatly piled, gleaming blond hair that framed his face nicely. Beautiful to the point of being somewhat feminine, his face contrasted nicely with the long neck and a prominent Adam's apple, tall height - thanks to his previous modeling experience - and broad shoulders and gave a bewitching charm overall.

To Kise Ryouta, who was picked as the most beautiful man in a magazine once, he would have more likely to have been someone else's Galatea.

But right now he was stroking the figure inside the painting with a look of melancholy on his face. All he could feel was the rough surface of the canvas.

If the figure was alive, his impassive face might be frowning, or even smiling a little. The cold skin would be warm, there would be heartbeat felt by his fingertips and the slight motion of his body even when he's standing still.

 

I should have done sculpture, Kise thought. Then I could have expressed him much more realistically.

 

He wondered if it was only his imagination. He asked everywhere but no one knows who he saw. He does art, for sure. That's why Kise started art in the first place.

He dropped his hand from the canvas. His body trembled under the gaze of the expressionless eyes. The figure in the painting, maybe, already has a lover, whom he kisses, sighs, and with a flushed face-

 

"I'm going crazy."

 

Kise sighed and slumped back in his chair, turning to face the ceiling and closed his eyes.

He dreamed of the very figure the day he finished painting. What had started out as a simple wish to paint him had become something much, much more. The figure was, indeed a male, even if he seemed somewhat delicate. After Kise had dreamt, the gaze of the painting seemed to look as if he knew everything and made Kise flush with guilt and shame at what he had done.

He had thought painting would solve the mystery. The figure that refused to leave his mind, he thought that he would be done with one he drew. His natural ability to learn anything he saw, his skills quickly improved with every brushstroke. The desire to express something, and the greed for the best fueled Kise. For the first time in his life, he put in effort. When the painting was finished, when he painted that last stroke of red on the lips, his entire body shook. It was an entirely different feeling from drawing people and still-life for practice. Drawing something, someone only by his memory.

'He' might not look like this. Maybe the image in his head changed from being there so long that it morphed and melded into what his mind wanted him to look like. But it would be absurd, since Kise wasn't into guys, nor could he deny what he felt when he looked at the painting.

He lost count of how many times he looked everywhere for him. He even took art at the hope to run into the mysterious person again.

 

Ah, you can actually long for someone so much it hurts, thought Kise.

 

He missed the real 'him' the one he could touch and feel. It was probably because he heard that story about Galatea.

Kise rose, thinking it was just about time to go home. He carefully put the cover on the painting as he glanced at the window. The stars were unusually bright today.

 

"If there really is a deity of love, let me meet him again. Wouldn't the goddess of love and beauty favor someone like me?"

 

 _Or maybe she's jealous_ , Kise grumbled to the goddess existing only in the myths, half-believing, and made his way home.

Amongst the dark winter sky, shooting stars were falling, lighting up the night.


End file.
